RoboHelp 6.0 on my PC is suddenly unable to open existing
projects or create new ones. The problem is not in the projects, as
other people can unzip the same set of files and open them with
RoboHelp on their PCs.

The Details:When attempting to open an existing project (any project
whether in version control or not), I get the message " Open
project was cancelled or the application was unable to load
database for..."

I found the article that says to delete the CPD and XPJ files
and then to use the Edit option to open the HHP file so that
RoboHelp will recreate the two files. When I try that, I get the
message "Unable to create database. Check that the directory is not
read-only." It's
not read-only.

When I attempt to create a new project, the application acts
like it is going to create one, but it just creates a project
folder without the new first topic and then repeats the New Project
Wizard window that prompts for title, etc. It will keep creating
folders and returning to this window in a loop without ever really
creating a project.

RoboSource Control is functioning normally, by the way.

I have uninstalled and reinstalled RH 6 several times, and
have even uninstalled RH 6 and installed to RH 5 just to see if it
could open projects, which it does with no problems. After that
test, I uninstalled RH 5 and reinstalled RH 6, only to encounter
the same problem all over again.

This started happening after I uninstalled other unrelated
software and received a message that some Service Pack 2 files had
been changed and prompting me to insert the Service Pack 2 CD,
which I don't have. This is because our IT department pre-builds
our systems from an image and then distributes job-specific
applications over the network. IT tried repairing Service Pack 2,
but that didn't work. I'd like to uninstall and reinstall Service
Pack 2, but the IT person says it's too risky on a system that was
built from an image.

We would like to find out
which files RoboHelp is looking for when it launches a
project so we can replace those files manually. Does anyone
know what they are or have another suggestion that might fix the
problem?

Otherwise, I am stuck having to allow IT to rebuild my
system. That means reinstalling and reconfiguring everything on it,
just as if I were upgrading to a new PC. This can take a whole work
week. However, I have already spent close to a work week on this
problem, so maybe rebuilding would save time in the long
run.

Yes, I have Admin rights on my PC. I was the one who
installed RH 6.0 initially, and it had been working for a month
before this happened. I had actually just submitted 5 projects for
a Help build just a few days before...four small projects that are
not under version control and one very large project (over 5000
topics) that is in version control. I can't even open the small
projects anymore.

I have to leave for the day, but I will check this forum from
my home PC. Would love to find the answer to this problem before
I'm stuck with a rebuild on Monday.

Thanks for the suggestion. No, I didn't have the trial
version. We tested an actual version before anyone installed. I
will follow up on the other one, though. I'd be so happy not to
have to rebuild my system.

You said: "I get the message 'Unable to create database.
Check that the directory is not read-only.'"

Then, you further said: "This is because our IT department
pre-builds our systems from an image and then
distributes job-specific applications over the network."
(emphasis mine)

But the key to this is in your first sentence: "RoboHelp 6.0
on my PC is suddenly unable to..." I suspect that your IT folks
"suddenly" messed around with some piece of filth like a "virtual
networking" app, or the kinds of things they're distributing are
not being done properly. In addition, have they started rolling out
a new anti-virus app throughout the organization? If so, you might
have to get them to include all folders with RH projects as
"reject-free" zones for that software.

If you do go the rebuild route, I suggest that, after they've
rebuilt the machine and you're ready to install RH, you:

1. Set up which folders (containing RH projects and the RH
app) that the anti-virus app shall bypass.
2. Completely disable your anti-virus software (not simply a
"sleep mode" or something like it).
3. Be logged in as yourself with full admin privileges.
4. Install RH and activate it.
5. Open a project, make a few edits, generate both a CHM and
WebHelp.

IMPORTANT: Only after step 5 should you allow the anti-virus
app to be reactivated.

I did not have the Service Pack 2 CD to insert into the
drive, because my base system was built from an image, and we do
not have CDs for the operating system. We do not have CDs for most
of our other software, either, because the company buys site
licenses and makes software available for us to load from a server.
However, my problem occurred not when I started the word day, but
immediately after I uninstalled some trial software and got the
message that some Service Pack 2 files had been changed and to
insert the CD which I didn't have for the reason stated. The folder
is writable, by the way, and RH makes a CPD file but then can't
build the database.

Although we have experienced problems after receiving updates
through SMS, no one else is having a problem with RoboHelp...just
my machine...so I doubt it was an update, and there are no updates
in Add/Remove Programs list around the date of the failure. The
projects themselves are not corrupt, because other people can take
my zip files, unzip the projects, and work in them just fine.

We have tried repairing Service Pack 2 twice (in different
order with respect to the RH install), and that has not fixed the
problem. This is why I was hoping someone might know which file or
files RH needs to launch a project. Although I have been cautioned
against it, I am really tempted to uninstall and reinstall Service
Pack 2.

I was also tempted to use a program I found online that
promises to clean up the registry, Windows, and Service Pack 2
files. The initial scan claimed to find a large number of "Errors,"
but I would have to register (and probably pay for the application)
for it to actually fix my system...and it might not work. And it is
against company rules to install software that was not purchased
through our software purchasing system, so I really couldn't do
that. If it had been my own PC at home, I would have.

Call me cynical but a registry cleanser would say there were
loads of "errors" in an effort to get you to buy it. I think the
only way forward that is likely to work is a complete
uninstall/reinstall of RH. There are any number of files required
to load a project so it would be difficult to tie down which one is
missing/corrupted.

I agree with your comment about reporting errors so I'd buy
the product. That's the other reason I didn't go for it. But even
if they were legitimate errors, I would be violating company rules,
and that's what really stopped me...because I know there are errors
in the Service Pack 2 files.

As I said earlier, I have completely uninstalled and
reinstalled RoboHelp four times. It does not fix the problem. I am
sure that is because the problem is missing or altered Service Pack
2 files, as explained in the original post.

It sounds like I am stuck starting my system from scratch
next week. (I work 4 ten-hour days, so I don't work Fridays, but
I'm checking this forum just in case someone comes up with
something new I can try. This is the very first time I have not
been able to solve a computer issue with persistent troubleshooting
that finally led to the cause and a solution. It's driving me
crazy.

Oh, yes, a system restore is always the very first thing I
try when things like this happen, and it usually works. But this
time it made things even worse so I had to undo the restore. That
makes sense, because a system restore doesn't work if you have
installed or uninstalled software since the last restore point,
which I had. It was unstalling software that started the whole
thing.

For anyone who might be interested in the resolution to this
issue, we did rebuild my PC and reinstall all of my software. The
RoboHelp installation "complained" that I did not have HTML Help
Workshop on my system and told me to download version 1.4 from
Microsoft. I did have HTML Help Workshop..it's in my programs list.
(It's not listed in programs on my co-workers' PCs, and they were
not having problems, by the way.) But to make RH happy, I
uninstalled the workshop and tried to install the version from
Microsoft. But a message informed me that I already had a newer
version of the workshop on my system, and I was back where I
started. I could open projects, but there were weird problems.
Selecting Topic Properties was met with an error message, and when
the properties window opened, I could only see whatever template
was assigned (or none if the topic had lost its template), and
there was an extra section for Oracle help.

So I started dinking around in the registry to see if I could
get rid of any traces of the workshop so I could install the
version RH wanted or to find any other clues to my problem. Under
HTMLHelpAuthor, there was a reference to an HHA.dll file located in
C:\WINDOWS\system32...only the file did not exist on my system.
(Remember that my original problem was that some Service Pack 2
files were either modified or missing.) So I did a Google search on
that file name and found out that HTML Help Workshop is included in
newer Windows operating systems, but that people used to have to
get HTML Help Workshop from Microsoft, and that some people had
made the mistake of just putting the HHA.dll file into the
C:WINDOWS\system32 folder without also installing HTML Help
Workshop. At this point it was obvious that I needed the HHA.dll,
so I got it from a co-worker's PC. (Looking at the registry
entries, I can also see that my system was built with a slightly
different version of the operating system than my co-workers have.)

Adding the HHA file to my system solved the problem. All
projects but one were fine; one was still exhibiting the strange
behavior. I fixed it by going back to the RoboHelp 5 version of the
project and re-converting it to RoboHelp 6.

I suspect that if I had known about the HHA.dll file before
we rebuilt the PC, I could have solved the problem without going
through that painful process. That is why I thought I should post
the solution even though it was after the rebuild.

First many thanks for posting back a full report of what you
had to do. Installing RoboHelp 6 on a new build PC has caused some
problems as it is the only version issued that did not include the
installation of the Microsoft Help Compiler. For what it is worth,
that was a licensing issue and it has been resolved for RoboHelp 7.
What is odd here is that you had the problem on a PC that had
previously had X5 installed. Although you uninstalled that, the
uninstall does not remove the Microsoft Help compiler so it should
have just been "taken over" by RH6.

Let's hope your post will help someone else. Given the low
cost upgrade to RH7, I suspect that RH6 will be fairly short lived
and hopefully people will not encounter this issue.

Yes, the workshop was still present, but apparently RH needs
the HHA.dll to recognize and use it.

I had been using RH6 successfully for a couple of months when
the problem occurred after I uninstalled some other software from a
couple of content management vendors and received a message that
some Service Pack 2 files had been changed and to insert the
Service Pack 2 CD or some software might stop working (and I didn't
have the CD to do that). If such a thing ever happens again, I will
let the PC sit until someone in IT is available to lend me the
CD...even if I have to wait several hours.